Dream Deferred
by Sebe
Summary: With the order to kill Sasuke, Naruto has to choose between dreams.


Author's Notes: What would happen if Naruto had to defy Konoha to save Sasuke? Would he do it? Could he let Sasuke go? Here's what I think.

Summary: With the order to kill Sasuke, Naruto has to choose between dreams.

**Dream Deferred**

"…You are forbidden from searching for Uchiha Sasuke any longer."

Naruto's heart stopped. Sakura, standing beside the Hokage, hung her head. She wouldn't meet his eyes. Kakashi watched Naruto carefully, the slightest outward sign of concern showing in the nin's usual carefully schooled expression.

"Wh-What?"

Like he didn't believe her. Couldn't believe that she would do something this cruel to him when he trusted her, _loved _her, like family. Tsunade closed her eyes tightly, mouth hidden behind her folded hands.

"The objective of retrieving Sasuke has been altered." She forced herself to meet the boy's wide eyes. He deserved at least that much from her. "He is to be terminated on sight."

Long moments of silence stretched on. There was a slight tremble to Naruto's frame, but Tsunade forced herself not to react. She wanted nothing more than to console the child she loved as a son, but her position as Hokage forced her to remain as impassive as possible.

And it hurt.

"No."

She had expected that.

"It is not a request. This is an order from the Council and the Hokage." Her voice was not unkind, but it was firm. "Any further measures to bring him back would be seen as a betrayal of Konoha."

She sighed wearily, her eyes and voice finally taking on a softer quality with her next words, as though she and the blonde ninja were the only ones in the room.

"At the least, you would never be able to become Hokage, Naruto."

More silence and she wished she could see his face, hidden behind his bangs. Naruto stood so still she had the irrational urge to leap up from her desk and make sure he was still breathing.

Slowly, Naruto raised his hand to his headband. He touched it like something beloved causing Tsunade to relax a bit, believing she had gotten through to him.

But the next second, Naruto's hand clenched the metal so hard it left lines in his palm. He tore the symbol from his head and flung it before Tsunade's desk. Naruto turned toward the door.

Startled for only a moment, Tsunade quickly barked to her guards.

"Stop him!"

The ANBU set upon Naruto. In barely a blink of an eye, they were thrown back into the wall. Tsunade thought she heard Sakura call out to her teammate worriedly. She saw Kakashi ready to attack and restrain Naruto, but only if directly ordered.

Before she could, Naruto spoke, though he didn't turn to face her.

"If you send them after me, if you send them after Sasuke…I'll kill them." In that moment, she knew the boy who had refused to kill Nagato would kill any nins put in the way of his path to Sasuke. She quickly ordered the ANBU to stand down. He started walking again and she was desperate. All thoughts of position aside, she yelled at him.

"He's not worth this, Naruto, not from you! He'd kill you if given the chance! You must know that!"

"…I know. But he's worth everything."

Sakura started after Naruto, but her master stopped her. She knew Naruto wouldn't kill, or even hurt Sakura, but neither could she stop him.

"Naruto…think about what you're doing." She was pleading. She couldn't lose him. _They_ couldn't lose him.

Stopping only briefly, one hand on the doorknob, Naruto spoke to her in a voice so hollow it scared her.

"You're the one that made me choose between dreams…Tsunade."

And he was gone.

Oblivious to the new chaos surrounding her, Tsunade collapsed back into her chair. She felt the pain of losing her brother all over again, the wound fresh and new. And this time, it had been her own doing. Her own acquiescence to the Council's decision; fueled by the certainty that this was the path that was right for Naruto. The one that would save him from both the Uchiha and himself.

Sakura cried and Kakashi mourned the loss of another student silently. Shizune watched Tsunade closely, sorrow in her eyes, and the ANBU stood ready, waiting for the word to follow, to capture, to kill.

Even if she sent them, which she wouldn't, they wouldn't catch him. Naruto didn't want to be found, so he wouldn't be. Naruto was lost.

But he was lost with the one person he'd long ago deemed more important than a childhood dream.

The Hokage didn't shed a tear until she was alone hours later. Then she shed them all.


End file.
